Sun sets on Junck's tenure as publisher

Baltimore Sun publisher and chief executive officer Mary Junck has been appointed president of Times Mirror Eastern Newspapers. Michael E. Waller, publisher and chief executive officer of the Hartford (Conn.) Courant, will replace Junck.

In her new position, Junck will oversee the operations of Times Mirror Co.'s eastern newspapers, which include the Sun, the Hartford Courant and Newsday. She also will oversee Times Mirror's consumer magazines.

Junck, 50, who has been with the Sun for four years, will stay at her offices in Baltimore. She assumes the new position Oct. 1.

Waller, 56, also will begin his new position next month. He has been with the Courant since 1986.

Trigen Energy powers Inner Harbor East

Trigen Baltimore Energy Corp. has been selected by H&S Properties Development Corp. to provide energy services at Inner Harbor East, the site of a planned convention headquarters hotel.

Also at the site are an office building where Sylvan Learning Systems Inc. is headquartered and an apartment building.

More offices, along with retail and entertainment developments -- up to 4 million square feet -- are planned for the site.

Trigen will design and construct a new central energy plant, which Trigen will manage, to provide heating and cooling on-site.

Recently, Trigen was selected as utility agent for the 25-story Blaustein Building, and as the heating provider for the Ravens' stadium, Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Mercy Hospital and the Cherry Hill housing project.

Furey takes command of city's post offices

Michael S. Furey was sworn in this week as Baltimore's new postmaster.

Furey comes to Baltimore after a long career with the U.S. Postal Service in the Washington suburbs, where he started as window/distribution clerk in 1978.

Most recently, he was the manager of operations programs support for the postal service's Northern Virginia District.

Furey had been serving as interim Baltimore postmaster since earlier this year.

"Michael has applied his solid background in customer service and operations to lead employees to achieve their goal of providing Baltimore with the best mail service on record," said Anthony J. Vegliante, the postal service's district manager.

The Baltimore office has been criticized in recent years because of its lackluster service record -- a record that independent auditors say has improved greatly over the past year.

U.S. Air Force chooses BWI over Philadelphia

The U.S. Air Force is moving its northeastern international gateway from Philadelphia to Baltimore.

That means military personnel traveling to Europe will fly out of Baltimore/Washington International Airport.

"This is a significant boost not only to air operations at BWI, but to Maryland's economy," said U.S. Sen. Paul Sarbanes, D-Md., who lobbied for the change.

The decision by the Air Force could increase annual international passenger traffic at BWI by more than 160,000 passengers a year, Sarbanes said.

The economic impact could be as much as $100 million a year, said state officials.

The Air Force is responsible for operating international charter flights for all military personnel, dependents and contractors.

The government used Philadelphia International for 18 years but decided to move because of down-sizing at the Philadelphia Naval Yard.

Orioles to continue training in South Fla.

The Baltimore Orioles will make Fort Lauderdale, Fla., their spring home for a third consecutive year, the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel reported this week.

The Orioles have reached a tentative deal with the Florida city to use 35-year-old Fort Lauderdale Stadium for their annual six-week spring training.

According to the newspaper, the agreement for February and March 1998 calls for the city to spend about $30,000 in roof repairs at the stadium.

Fort Lauderdale Stadium was the spring home of the New York Yankees from 1962 to 1995, when the team left for a new facility in Tampa, Fla. The Orioles, who were without a spring home for several years in the early 1990s, moved in when the Yankees moved out.

The Orioles' long-term future in Fort Lauderdale is in question, however. The team wants the city to build a new stadium and a minor-league training facility -- a request that has become a political hot potato in the city and surrounding Broward County.

The tentative pact reached between the Orioles and Fort Lauderdale is for one year, with two option years for 1999 and 2000.

Fort Lauderdale's city commissioners were so happy with the deal they sent a bushel of oranges to the Orioles' Baltimore offices this week, the Sun-Sentinel reported.

The Orioles would not confirm the reports Wednesday.

McCormick rebounds from last year's losses

Sparks-based McCormick & Company Inc. earned $20.2 million for the third quarter ending Aug. 31.

This contrasts with the $24.3 million loss in the same period last year, which included adjustments related to business dispositions, restructuring and prepayment of debt.

These charges reflected costs related to McCormick's sale over a two-year period of several non-core businesses.

Sales increased 4 percent to $423 million.

"We are particularly pleased with the continued growth of our industrial and food service businesses, the profit improvement of our packaging operations and the progress we have made in implementing programs to grow our consumer business," said Robert J. Lawless, president and CEO.

For the first nine months of the year, McCormick had earnings of $50.2 million, vs. a loss of $3.9 million last year.

Doctors Health signs unusual agreement

In a unique arrangement, Doctors Health in Owings Mills has signed a three-year agreement to provide care for a portion of the members of NYLCare Health Plans of the Mid-Atlantic.

Doctors Health has said it will assume clinical and financial responsibility for most of the 14,000 NYLCare members in Maryland and Virginia who are enrolled in Medicare.

This is the first such agreement between two managed care companies in the region.

Doctors Health is physician-owned company with approximately 2,400 doctors in Maryland, Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C.